posted 9 years ago
Ugh, sawflies! I've just had my first encounter with them this season. I didn't really notice until nearly 1/4 of one of my black currants was annihilated. Since then, I've taking the approach of ruthlessly squashing all that I find, and a generous dusting of DE over the plants and on the ground(don't know if it'll harm the blasted larvae, but maybe will harm the adult flies when they emerge, hopefully?) The damage seems to be slowing significantly, at least for now. Of course, the hand-picking solution works for me, as I've got an urban lot with only 5 currant and gooseberry plants...this may not be as realistic if you're in a setting with dozens of bushes. I've noticed its worst on the Black currant- it seems they're less interested in the red one.